Rather good for the kind of film it is

Rating: 6/10 (18 July 2009)

Taken on its own terms, 28 Days Later isn't half bad. As a zombie movie it gets far better than half marks compared with some of the formulaic pap that is out there. In many ways the filming is rather rough around the edges, but given that it takes place in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by some sort of virus, that isn't half bad. There are plot holes galore and some very inconsistent behaviour by the main characters, but then I did stress that the film does oblige you to take it on its own terms and as long as you are not looking forward to an intelligent piece, analysing, say, the breakdown of society as seen through the eyes of some would be auteur, your on safe ground. In some ways the film is in two halves, with the second half when three of the characters reach apparent safety, only for the women to find that they are anything but safe, promising something over an above your average zombie movie. However, that promise is not fulfilled which is rather a pity. Director Danny Boyle does well on very limited resources (your average Tinseltown zombie movie will have a budget ten, twenty times what Boyle had) and the opening scenes in an apparently utterly deserted London are impressive given that the locations are real and that Boyle had to clear the streets of London completely for each shot. I have to say the desertion and desolation of New York city in I Am Legend is superficially more impressive given that film's greater resources (both films cover much the same ground, in fact), but the sheer bleakness of an un-digitally created deserted London carries additional weight. I'll stress, taken on its own terms Boyle's effort is rather entertaining, better than many glossier attempts. You have to take the story and characters on trust and suspend your disbelief, but then All's Well That Ends Well demands a similar commitment, so that is no great shakes. Just switch off and enjoy.